Body of taxi driver found near city
It has all the elements of a made for TV murder mystery. But the bloody corpse discovered on Sunday outside Belize City, was grim reality, not Hollywood make believe. Today News 5’s Jacqueline Woods joined the victim’s bereaved family to try to make sense out of an act that defied reason.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Forty-one year old Alfredo Morales, a car dealer, taxi driver and tourist guide, was scheduled to leave on Friday afternoon on a flight to the United States but he never made it to the Phillip Goldson International Airport. The family says on Saturday when people in the States told them Morales never arrived, they launched an air and land search. On Sunday that search came to an end.
Morales’ partially decomposed body was found eight feet away from the roadside. It had several stab wounds. Police say they do not have any suspects, but strongly believe the car dealer was killed by someone he knew. Meanwhile, Morales’ family says they are equally disturbed about the fact that his clothing was also found inside his vehicle that was parked further down the feeder road.
It was family members who first made the gruesome discovery by mile three on the Western Highway. Along the deserted feeder road, police found Morales’ passport and other documents, which lead them to suspect that he tried to run away from his attacker. The vehicle, a Lincoln town car, was found in a clearing off to the west side of the road. Besides the dead man’s clothing, blood was found splattered on the passenger seat.
Esmeralda Alvarado, Sister
“When I reach there, I went straight to the car and I stand up a distance and I waited awhile because I don’t know what to expect when I looking for myself. So I wait there, I look inside, and when I saw what I saw, I see his shirt on the car seat, the driver’s side, his shirt was there, his shoe and then I started, this can’t be real.”
Esmeralda Alvarado said they next started to look for her brother. Forty-five minutes into the search, the family came upon Morales’ body. Alvarado said she could not believe the way her brother was killed and does not know why anyone would want him dead.
Esmeralda Alvarado
“Well the police said that they gave him a slice here, it was a hole here and they slit his throat.” (sobbing)
“We have no idea why they would hurt him, because he is a kind, caring, friendly person, who doesn’t have any enemies.”
Because of the state of the body’s decomposition, both family and authorities believe Morales was killed on Friday. Alvarado said earlier that day her brother dropped off his son at school and returned home in Sandhill. Around 10:30 that morning, Morales left for the city and then would have driven to the airport. She believes her brother met someone who took him hostage before finally murdering him.
Esmeralda Alvarado
“I have a feeling that whoever hold him, put him in the passenger seat, maybe take off his shoes, put it on, put on his shirt, so that whenever he is driving they can see the colour of the shirt and maybe they cannot trace nothing on the accelerator or the brakes, whatever. And the person who drive there… because knowing Alfredo, if he was driving, he would have crashed that car before any further if he was driving. And to my belief, I think they catch him unawares.”
The family members say they do not know just how much money Morales had on him, but Alvarado says she is certain he had two thousand, five hundred U.S. dollars. That money, plus a cellular phone was gone when his body was discovered. Morales’ travel luggage remained untouched locked inside the trunk of the car.
Esmeralda Alvarado
“There is a God above who knows. They can hide from us, but they cannot hide from God. And he sees and knows best. Even though it hurts, our hope is to see him in heaven.”
Today the family spoke about another matter following the post-mortem examination that was conducted in Hattieville. Alvarado said following the autopsy, their brother’s body was not prepared for a proper burial and they were totally unprepared to do what was asked of them.
Esmeralda Alvarado
“Well following the examination when they got through with the post-mortem, the doctor who did the autopsy said, well he is finished; his assistant said he was finished, he was through; the police said, we finished. So I asked, well who will help to assist putting him in the casket? He said well they already did their job.”
Jacqueline Woods
“And it was not just picking up the body and simply placing it in a casket. Your brother’s body was left open?”
Esmeralda Alvarado
“Was left open. His you know, I don’t want to say anything because it is painful. Just imagine what they do when they do an autopsy, and to left him there open up for my close relatives, friends and for my brother who was there to do that, that was cold; that was cold.”
Alvarado says her brother’s body should have at least been covered up before it was handed over to the family. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
Alfredo Morales was buried in Sandhill on Sunday evening. The Morales family would like to give special thanks to their community and all those persons who helped from the time of the search to when Morales was laid to rest. His murder is the nation’s ninth for 2003.
